From the world of British politics there are the signatures of Prime Ministers Stanley Baldwin, Anthony Eden, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath, James Callaghan, Ramsay MacDonald, Alex Douglas-Home, Harold MacMillan, Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Tony Blair, Mr Evans died last year aged 90 and his family were left with the extensive array of documents.

BNPS

Napoleon's signature

They are now expected to fetch £30,000 when they sell tomorrow at Campbells Auctioneers in Worthing, West Sussex.

I would have loved to meet the collector and asked him where and when he got all of these amazing signatures

Paul Campbell – Specialist at Campbells Auctioneers

Mr Evans was fascinated by the Duke of Wellington and collected several of his letters, a lock of his hair, an invitation to his funeral and a letter from his wife, Catherine Pakenham.

His earliest signature – the 1st Duke of Marlborough – dates from 1697. Other important military figures in the collection are Lord Kitchener, Air Chief Marshall Hugh Dowding and Field Marshal Montgomery of Alamein.

Signatures of a host of Prime Ministers including Sir Winston Churchill and Tony Blair are displayed in bound albums, while a book signed by the former Soviet Union president Mikhail Gorbachev also features in the collection.

From Harold Wilson, he got a letter discussing the football club Huddersfield Town and tracked down signatures from literary giants J.M Barrie, Rudyard Kipling, William Wordsworth, Arthur Conan Doyle and John Ruskin.

Signatures by the artists Pablo Picasso and Dante Gabriel Rosetti are included in the collection as are explorers Sir Edmund Hilary and Lord Hunt – who led the successful 1953 expedition to Mount Everest – and photographs taken on the moon that were later signed by the first men on the moon Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Charlie Duke.

BNPS

'It's been such a privilege to turn the pages of one man's life', says Campbell

Paul Campbell, specialist at Campbells Auctioneers, said: "It's been such a privilege to turn the pages of one man's life and passion and to see and consider the history he brought together.

"If you are a fan of the Labour party there is a signature from the Scottish politician James Keir Hardie, the first Labour member of Parliament, who commented 'autograph hunters are a wee bit of a nuisance'.

"If you like the poem 'If', you should participate for the signature by Rudyard Kipling.

BNPS

Duke of John Sheffield's signature

"This was a life-long passion of his. He mixed in important circles as a founder member of the anti-vivisection movement and he spoke in the House of Commons.

"He visited 28 countries to speak against animal experiments and even discussed the issue with Mahatma Gandhi.

"I would have loved to meet the collector and asked him where and when he got all of these amazing signatures."